Comments on: Ordinance Would Require County Employees To Quit Before Running For County Commission

By: Ted Hassebrock

Ted Hassebrock — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 21:12:54 +0000

If the Commissioners job was a true part time, they shouldn’t have to resign. When I worked a part time job I had no benefits or retirement. However, things have changed why are the Commissioners getting an excessive retirement packages – a lot better package than the average citizen .

By: Jimbo

Jimbo — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 19:18:55 +0000

This is just a sad abuse of power to limit competition. To say that a county employee cannot do their job and run for office outside of company time is ludicrous. This is exactly what the commissioners are expected to do when they have to run and no one questions that. Sad that commissioners waste time and money on this when there are other issues in the county that should be addressed. Anyone that quits a county office to run against one of them let us know and we will vote for you just for that reason alone.

By: John Doe

John Doe — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 17:57:34 +0000

This just screams of pettiness. A certain commissioner gets b*tthurt when one of the other commissioner’s aides runs against him, and so now employees can’t run, but if you are a current commissioner, who is on the payroll just like everyone else. that’s totally fine.

petty

By: Swampfox

Swampfox — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 14:59:23 +0000

Quite a conundrum… maybe the Commissioners pay/benefits are way too high !
How about only travel expense and meal expense and county issued cell phone. No huge salary , pension, Insurance etc . There are prolly lots of folk who would/could do the job to “give-back “ to Federal, State, and local offices to streamline costs and lower Tax’s.

By: Crystal

Crystal — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 11:45:48 +0000

So if someone wants to run and is required to quit their job and then does not win this would make them unemployed. I see no reason that an employee can’t work and run for office. Then if he/she gets the votes and wins that is when it should be determined if they should quit. If they have an engagement during the election that they must attend (such as a debate) then let met use PTO or a day without pay. They should not loose their job before the election.

By: CJ Lewis

CJ Lewis — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 21:27:56 +0000

Florida’s Resign-to-Run Law (Section 99.012, Florida Statutes) regulates who must resign to run for certain elected offices. There are many nuances to the law. The Florida Division of Elections Reference Guide 0016 last updated in May 2019 generally describes the Resign-to-Run Law. The intent of the BCC here appears to be to make unlawful what the Florida Legislature says is lawful. I don’t know if a county employee can also serve as a county commissioner. It seems ill-advised. However, that’s not the issue here. At this point, the BCC wants to avoid having anyone who knows something about county government – i.e., a county employee – run for a seat on the county commission. The BCC has also asserted that it can prohibit county employees from running for other elected offices though that provision is not incorporated into this ordinance at this time though they must assume it can be amended later to do so. My understanding from speaking with County Attorney Rogers is that the BCC only really (legally) appoints two people – the County Administrator and the County Attorney. As I read Section 99.012, if either she or County Attorney Wes Moreno became candidates for a county commission office then they would have to resign. They cannot take a leave of absence. I think that the ultimate legal issue will be if a person who drives a truck for public works is considered to be a “subordinate officer” of the BCC whose members exercise no authority to “appoint, employ, promote or otherwise supervise” them. The Florida Legislature has no bills under consideration to amend Section 99.012. It seems very brave or reckless of Deputy County Attorney Hual to bring forward this ordinance without a Memorandum of Law in support.

By: Swampfox

Swampfox — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 20:12:36 +0000

What if Comissioners have other jobs which are in addition to being a Commissioner?

By: Denny

Denny — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 17:48:19 +0000

Henry and Perry, Commissioners would consider themselves “officials” and thus more special than commoner “employees,” even though both are paid by the County to do a job for the County. Since they’re so special, they’ll use this to exempt themselves from their own ordinance, while prohibiting those who actually knows how the County runs.

There are already measures in place to keep employees from using County time for personal aspirations but, no, these kings want to eliminate the competition altogether. Someone feels threatened by competence.

By: Resident

Resident — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 17:35:34 +0000

“, it should include the 5 Commissioners. They should quit if they want to run again for their position”

Can’t happen. When three commissioners are up for election every four years, that would leave just two commissioners. Without a quorum, they could not conduct any business for months.

By: Bewildered

Bewildered — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 17:12:24 +0000

All career politicians cling to their seats like ticks on a dog! County, State, Federal alike. Their only goal is to rake in as much money as possible for themselves. They know fully well that a “commoner” (like the call him) has to have a job to fall back on to survive if he looses an election. So they underhandedly prohibit him from running in the first place. What a disgusting bunch – makes a person wish they would choke on their millions or billions they hoard while holding political seats their whole life